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Friday, May 20, 2016

Hollywood Studios Toy Story Land: What We Know So Far

By Dan Valis

Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios is undergoing a complete rebranding of itself. A huge part of the overhaul will be the new Toy Story themed land that is currently under construction. The idea behind the new Toy Story Land is that you will be shrunk to the size of a toy and enter Andy’s backyard. You will be able to explore his backyard as well as enjoy new rides and attractions using Andy’s toys. Disney has already given a glimpse into Toy Story Land with the release of photos and descriptions for the land's attractions. Join me in today's new article and let’s take a look at what we know so far...

The first attraction that we know of is a coaster track that Andy has built using his Mega Coaster Play Kit called Slinky Dog Dash. Guests will enjoy this family friendly coaster as they zip and dodge around Andy’s backyard with many turns and drops along the way...

The second new attraction is the Alien Swinging Saucers. On this ride, guests will experience Aliens which are flying around in their toy flying saucers as they try and capture a rocket vehicle with “The Claw.” The design idea of this attraction comes from a toy play set that Andy received from Pizza Planet in the first Toy Story film. As part of the game, guests will rotate and swirl around toy planets and satellites to the beat of fun “Space Jazz” music, which was developed specifically for this experience...

Lastly, the very popular Toy Story Midway Mania ride is receiving an expansion which will add a third ride track. The new track should cut down the wait times for this popular attraction which typically exceed an hour and a half to two hours...

So now that we know what the attractions will be, what else we can expect from Toy Story Land? Disney has already built two different Toy Story Lands to date, one in Paris and one in Hong Kong. Taking a look at what else is offered in these lands may give us a glimpse into what may be in store for us in the Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios...

At Disneyland in Hong Kong, they have a character meet and greet location called Barrel of Fun. Guests can meet many of the Toy Story characters such as Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie. Expect to see something very similar in Hollywood Studios..

Andy’s Toy Box and the Toy Story Playland Boutique are gift shops that offer guests the ability to shop for their favorite Toy Story characters, collectables, and toys. As far as dining, guests can stop for a bite to eat at Jessie’s Snack Roundup which is an outdoor concession stand...

The Pizza Planet restaurant in Hollywood Studios recently closed for a long refurbishment and there have been rumors that it may be remodeled to more closely resemble the Pizza Planet restaurant from the Toy Story film and be relocated to Toy Story Land...

After looking at the Hong Kong and Paris locations and knowing how much Disney loves their gift shops, it seems like a strong possibility that there will definitely be some sort of Toy Story themed gift shop, character meet and greet, and possibly a dinning or concession option included in the new land...

Toy Story Land is being built in the area between Toy Story Midway Mania and the former location of the Backlot Tour. I am excited as construction on this new land gets underway and, in the coming months, we should find out much more about what awaits us when it finally opens in 2017.

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Dan Valis has been a lifelong Disney fan
since his very first visit to Walt Disney World at the age of five.
Although he doesn't recall much of that first trip, he knows it was then
that his love of Disney was born. Dan has since passed along his
passion for Disney on to his wife and son. Over the course of Dan's
Disney trips, he has learned countless tips by staying on and off site
and has done Disney several different ways. Each trip has been a
learning experience on how to do it better the next time. Dan will share
what he has learned by providing tips and tricks to make your Disney
vacation more cost effective and as enjoyable as possible.